0:05Skip to 0 minutes and 5 secondsDR JULIAN WHITEWRIGHT: Maritime archaeology is an incredibly broad subject. But to understand exactly what it encompasses, we've asked some of our students, some of our colleagues and some of our fellow maritime archaeologists to tell us what is maritime archaeology.

0:27Skip to 0 minutes and 27 secondsSPEAKER 2: Ha, ha, ha. The big, big question. Well, personally, I'd like to think of it as just archaeology, except you're focusing on particular aspects of any kind of sea life and so on.

0:49Skip to 0 minutes and 49 secondsSPEAKER 4: Maritime archaeology focuses largely on shipwrecks. But it's not just underwater archaeology. That's a misconception that a lot of people have. And maritime archaeology encompasses the entirety of maritime cultures.

1:02Skip to 1 minute and 2 secondsSPEAKER 5: Maritime archaeology is the study of coastal landscapes, which would involve larger regional processes of how people interact with the sea and other water bodies.

1:11Skip to 1 minute and 11 secondsSPEAKER 1: Personally, I'm trained in osteoarchaeology. I have a background in animal and human bones. So I'm bringing this into maritime archaeology, which hasn't been done much at all.

1:24Skip to 1 minute and 24 secondsSPEAKER 6: It entails oceanography, diving, terrestrial archaeology, chemistry. I don't know. It's just like a whole different bunch of disciplines kind of come together.

1:51Skip to 1 minute and 51 secondsDR JULIAN WHITEWRIGHT: So that just really scratches the surface of what maritime archaeology actually is. But what we want to know is what you think maritime archaeology is. So please let us know using the Comments.

What is Maritime Archaeology?

We asked various students and staff from University of Southampton: What is Maritime Archaeology?

Are you surprised by any of their answers?

Julian also asks you to share your thoughts on Maritime Archaeology in the comments. It may be helpful to comment on other learners’ comments as well, letting them know whether you agree or disagree with them.